Kevlar Canoe Repair – Preliminary Walk-around

Here’s a canoe that came in to us for repair and refinishing. It’s an old canoe from 2005 that saw it’s share of tough times possibly in the hands of less discerning renters during it’s life as an outfitting canoe. You can’t help but notice that it’s oxidized heavily (grey/white powdery coating) and this canoe also needs to have a re-coat of epoxy resin as the fiberglass layer on the outside is pretty exposed making its human handlers itchy. The original problem with the canoe was that it “oil cans” and has some water seeping through the hull in the damaged area. The stress crack/crumple occurred from any number of actions. My guess is that it was crazy people taking it over the top of a beaver dam with everyone fully seated as the canoe buckled under the weight of the suspended bow paddler. That is the most likely option to cause that particular damage. The other option would be crazy people sitting on the canoe like it’s a chair or a wilderness sofa. That is also a likely cause, but less so than the first crazy people possibility. Sitting on your canoe when it is upside down is just plain dumb. They are simply not made for that, so fight the urge to turn your canoe into an oil-canning canoe.

Anyway, there will be a few more videos with this canoe and basic canoe repair in subsequent posts. I’ll get them loaded as I find the time.